The red-hot housing market, one of the prime movers of the remarkably resilient U.S. economy, appears to be slowing, as housing starts declined in October.

Building permits for new houses were not far behind, dropping by the most in over six years.

Builders broke ground at an annual rate of 2.01 million homes last month, down 5.6 percent from September’s 2.134 million pace, according to a Commerce Department. Building permits dropped to a 2.071 million rate, a 6.7 percent decline that was the largest since September 1999.

Economists immediately fingered higher mortgage rates as the culprit, making home construction more expensive after four straight years of record sales.

According to a Bloomberg survey, economists forecast October’s home starts to fall to a 2.07 million annual rate from the 2.108 million pace initially reported for September.